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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24537763">Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enjolr_ass/pseuds/Enjolr_ass'>Enjolr_ass</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Burlesque Club, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Angst, Closeted Character, Coming Out, M/M, Strippers &amp; Strip Clubs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:40:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24537763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enjolr_ass/pseuds/Enjolr_ass</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A closeted Davey somehow get roped into going to a strip club on his 21st birthday...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Romeo/Specs (Newsies), Sarah Jacobs/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This isn’t exactly how Davey imagined spending his 21<sup>st</sup> birthday, surrounded by his partially drunk college friends and some lovely ladies with very sparse clothing. He wasn’t really sure how he got roped into partying at a strip club but hey Davey was just glad his new friends seemed to like him. Jamie came back to their small table with another round of fancy shots and cocktails. Hesitantly Davey reached for one of the more normal looking liquids, although there wasn’t really any of those since they were all some form of rainbow coloured. The liquid burned the back of Davey’s throat, he winced, the bright colours didn’t make it any easier to stomach. Tony slapped Davey on the back, he flinched away from the sudden contact.  <br/>
<br/>
“Eyyyy there you go Birthday Boy! Are ya having fun yet?!” He shouted over the pulsing music. Davey shot him a half-hearted thumbs up, this was enough for Tony who had already started a conversation with someone else. A girl wearing a tiny bikini brushed past Davey, he mumbled a rushed apology, she didn’t even acknowledge him. Davey was very much not used to strip club etiquette. Hell Davey was very much not used to flirting with women, let alone being surrounded by half naked women who kept getting far too close to him. As David was calculating how much longer he would have to stay at his own party before it was polite to leave, he was suddenly pulled up by the back of his shirt by two surprisingly strong English majors. Davey, disoriented by the shoving and the alcohol stumbled over his own feet and was caught by his other friends who continued to shove him in the same direction.<br/>
<br/>
“Seeing as is it your 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and you’re finally allowed to have some fun we got you a surprise.” Came Tony’s voice from the pack. The group eventually landed in front of a door that read “Private room”. Tony made a grand gesture “All for you Davey boy, 1 hour with Sasha, enjoy.” As Davey slowly connected all the dots his brain went into overdrive. He didn’t know how to respond, his mouth opened but nothing came out. As he turned around to try to make an excuse of why this was a bad idea, someone had opened the door and the rest of the group ushered him inside. The plush velvet covered door closed behind him, sealing his fate. Now the real panic set in. Davey hurriedly looked around the room, empty. The room was covered in glitter and velvet, it felt very intimate, adorned with settees around the sides and an open space in the middle. Davey was paralysed by indecision, not able to leave as the rest of them were surely waiting outside. He looked at one of the loveseats, while it looked comfortable, he didn’t think sitting was a good option. After a couple minutes more of overthinking and anxiety sweat the door cracked open and a sweet voice came into the room.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey big boy.” A long stocking covered leg stepped into the room, followed by a beautiful girl just barely covered by a matching set of classy red lingerie. Davey felt bad even looking at her, but he couldn’t move. She slowly slinked her way towards him, pushing a hand against his chest and pressing him into the nearest loveseat. Davey sunk deep into the couch, leaning as far away from this girl as was physically possible. She lowered herself gracefully onto Davey’s knees, balancing artfully. After a moment she cocked her head to the side, deftly reading the fear and unease in the boy’s eyes. “What’s wrong honey?” She asked, still playful but with a real edge of concern to it. Davey swallowed the lump in his throat and before he could properly think it through the words came tumbling out of his mouth.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m gay.” The two of them stared at each other, both a bit shocked by the information. The girl quirked a smile and stood up.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh!” She exclaimed with a laugh. “But then why did you?” Davey cut her off before she could finish her though.<br/>
<br/>
“My friends organised this, I’m in the closet, they didn’t know.” He explained rapidly. She simply chucked as she reached for a silk dressing gown to cover up with.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m sorry honey, I hope I didn’t scar you too much. Jeez you look absolutely white as a sheet! I thought you was just nervous.” She came back over and sat next to Davey, leaving him some room to breathe.<br/>
<br/>
“You know, you’re the first person I’ve actually come out to.” Davey admitted, only just coming to terms with that fact himself. She grinned stupid wide.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh I am honoured, I am. I’m Samantha, but you can call me Smalls everyone else around here does.” She proudly stuck out her hand to shake, Davey took it gently.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m David, or Davey I don’t mind.” He smiled weakly, glad to have found a friend in all of this chaos.<br/>
<br/>
“Well it’s nice to meet you David, now how come I’m the first person you’ve come out to? What about friends? Family?” Normally David wouldn’t be so open to talking about this all but Smalls looked absolutely ready to adopt him at any moment so he figured she wouldn’t mind hearing about his life.<br/>
<br/>
“Well I just moved here to study so I don’t have many friends and I mean I don’t know why I haven’t told my folks… I guess I’m just scared of what they’ll think.” Davey looked up at her, the combination of alcohol and difficult subjects were mixing together and making him overly emotional. Smalls looked deep into his eyes and squeezed his hand tight.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t you worry okay, I’m sure your parents aren’t gonna think any different of you okay? And if they do you can always come here, we’re a real big family of sorts and we’re accepting of all, no matter who you are.” This put a small smile back on Davey’s face. Smalls looked at him closely.<br/>
<br/>
“Have you been drinking tonight, honey?” She asked lovingly, he nodded. “Okay I’m gonna go get you some water because you just look like an absolute ghost you do, now you just sit tight for a second okay.” Davey nodded again as Smalls gave him a warm smile and left him alone in the room again.  He took a second, closed his eyes and took some calming breaths, glad to be away from the loud atmosphere of the club and finally able to relax. Starting to feel a bit more like himself he suddenly felt really out of place in the empty room, he grabbed at a heart shaped pillow and hugged it gently to his chest for comfort. He heard the creak of the door again and looked up, a long leg stretched suggestively out from behind the door, but Davey knew it definitely wasn’t Smalls. David watched as a man stepped into the room, dressed head to toe in black wearing a silky button-down shirt and pants so tight they left little to the imagination. The man cracked a smile, quite possibly because of Davey’s gobsmacked expression.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m just kidding, I ain’t here to seduce ya, Smalls sent me in here to give you this.” He sauntered over to Davey and handed him a glass of chilled water, which he accepted gratefully. “You’re Davey right?” He asked, Davey nodded in response, not sure how to react to this man who just oozed confidence. “I’m Jack, well I mean my stage name is Cowboy but you can just call me Jack.” Davey looked at him properly again and realised what he was wearing was an all-black cowboy outfit, complete with boots, chaps, and a hat currently hanging down his back. He smirked and Davey fell even more in love. Although he wasn’t entirely sure if he was terrified of him or attracted but it didn’t matter. Jack eyed the seat next to David. “May I?” Davey looked down at the chair and then back at Jack.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh… of course.”  He shuffled over making room for Jack who unfurled himself onto the couch. Although he wasn’t as tall as Davey his limbs splayed everywhere. An arm draped lazily over the top of the seat, dangerously close to Davey’s neck. He was suddenly very on edge again. Up close David could see the glitter plastered to Jack’s face. It was very fine and shimmered whenever his face caught the light, gradually making its way into his perfectly messy brown hair. He smelled like hairspray, salt, and smoke.<br/>
<br/>
“So” Jack broke the silence “What’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?” He joked before rephrasing. “I mean what’s a gay guy doing getting a lap dance from Smalls?” Davey immediately blushed thinking of her, ducking his head. “Why don’t you come out your friends out there? They seem… great.” Jack offered; Davey looked up.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know. I mean I’m sure they wouldn’t care but…I kinda want to tell my parents first.” Davey admitted, the alcohol dissolving any sort of emotional filter he had along with Jack’s piercing but calm gaze. Jack nodded thoughtfully.<br/>
<br/>
“Why don’t you tell your parents then?” Jack asked softly, not wanting to hit a touchy subject. Davey took a second.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know. I just don’t want them to see me differently. I mean they’re Jewish…I’m also Jewish…We’re all Jewish but I don’t think that’s a problem, they’re pretty open minded. I know they want grandchildren and I don’t want to be any more of a failure than I already am.” Davey couldn’t look Jack in the eye after that. Jack gave him a second to compose himself.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh boy you really are a truthful drunk aren’t you. How are you feeling now?” Jack asked, trying to gauge whether Davey was about to have a breakdown or not.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know, I feel better? But also, sad.” Davey confessed. This was not good enough for Jack who suddenly stood up and started connecting his phone to something. Before Davey could ask what was happening music starting blasting from all corners of the room.<br/>
<br/>
“Technically I’m off the clock but I’ll make an exception for you because it’s your birthday, and you’re really cute.” Jack chucked Davey a wink before slowly unbuttoning his silky black shirt, grinding his hips in time with the music. If Davey wasn’t already blushing, now he was fully red. When Davey looked up there was a cowboy hat on Jack head and he slid smoothly to his knees, landing right in front of Davey. His shirt was fully open revealing a toned and tanned body. As sultry as he could, Jack made direct eye contact as he crawled towards Davey, mouthing the lyrics of the song “Save a horse, ride a cowboy.” This tickled Davey, a chuckle burst out of his mouth, Jack grinned, finally getting the response he wanted. He continued to grind to the music until he finally ended up straddled on Davey’s lap. Davey was absolutely frozen, as the song finished the two were still staring into each other’s eyes. Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out a sharpie, proceeding to grab Davey’s arm. He stuck his tongue out in concentration and methodically wrote his number on Davey’s arm. “Gotta keep up appearances.” Jack stated as he swiped his thumb over Davey’s cheek, creating a stripe of glitter and artfully messing up Davey’s hair. “Tell ‘em you had a great time with ‘Sasha’.” Jack gracefully got up so Davey could leave. Slowly Davey stood up, the reality hitting him that he would now have to go back out and face his friends. Davey stopped, his hand frozen on the doorknob and turned back to face Jack.<br/>
<br/>
“You can do this.” He affirmed, then waited a second. “…and, call me?” For the first time that night Davey thought Jack sounded unsure. He smiled, comforted by the knowledge that Jack liked him as well.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course I will.” They shared one last glance before Davey disappeared out the door and into the swell of the club.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you guys enjoyed this, I haven't written anything in ages so this was really fun :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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